Stakeholders have warned that weak and costly transport links across Africa threaten to derail the economic gains promised by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which offers access to a single market of 1.4 billion people and a combined GDP of more than $3.4 trillion.
Speakers at the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Annual Lecture Series said the continent's aviation networks remain limited and expensive, while logistics systems are fragmented, underdeveloped and poorly integrated.
Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, they described this shortfall as a "connectivity deficit" that costs Africa billions of dollars every year in lost trade, reduced investment, lower productivity and unrealised human potential.
Stakeholders at the event included the minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo; former minister of Aviation Osita Chidoka; editor-in-chief, LEADERSHIP Newspaper, Azu Ishiekwene; managing director of Nigeria Railway Corporation, Kayode Opeifa; and managing director of the Nigeria Shippers' Council, Dr Akutah Pius, among others.
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In a keynote address, the minister of aviation and aerospace development, Festus Keyamo, said , "No continent can truly integrate economically while remaining disconnected physically."
The minister, represented by the managing director of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), further stated that connectivity drives investment flows, which in turn drive development and reduce poverty.
According to him, "Let me begin with a simple but powerful truth: air transport is no longer a luxury reserved for a privileged few. In the 21st century, aviation is economic infrastructure. For a continent as vast and diverse as Africa, where geography often limits road and rail integration, aviation becomes the bridge that connects economies, accelerates trade, supports healthcare delivery, drives tourism, facilitates manufacturing value chains, and strengthens people-to-people relationships.
"No continent can truly integrate economically while remaining disconnected physically. This was the vision behind the Yamoussoukro Decision and the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM). These landmark initiatives were conceived to dismantle artificial restrictions, encourage competition, liberalise access, and allow African airlines to operate across the continent based on demand and opportunity rather than bureaucracy and protectionism. While implementation has progressed more slowly than anticipated, the vision remains urgent, relevant, and transformational. Connectivity is not an abstract policy concept; it has direct economic consequences. Industry studies consistently show that greater air market liberalisation leads to increased flight frequencies, lower airfares, stronger tourism flows, higher trade volumes, job creation, and measurable GDP growth.
"When connectivity improves, investment follows. When investment grows, jobs are created. When jobs are created, poverty declines, and prosperity expands.
Even modest liberalisation among key African markets could generate millions of dollars in economic activity and create thousands of employment opportunities for our rapidly growing population."
Speaking on the theme of the inaugural lecture, "Improving Connectivity within the African Continent", the president and chairman of council, CILT, Nigeria, Boboye Oyeyemi, said, "it was not chosen casually. It was chosen because it sits at the absolute heart of the most consequential development challenge and the most transformative development opportunity that Africa -- and Nigeria in particular -- faces in the decade ahead.
"Let me explain what I mean. Africa has the resources. It has a population. It has the land. It has the minerals, agricultural potential, youthful demographics, and entrepreneurial energy. What Africa has historically lacked -- and what has suppressed its economic potential more than any other single factor -- is connectivity. The ability to move people, goods, services, information, and capital efficiently, affordably, and reliably across the vast geography of the continent.
"The roads that should connect farmers to markets are inadequate. The railways that should carry bulk cargo across national borders are underbuilt or nonexistent. The ports that should serve as gateways to continental trade are too expensive and too congested. The aviation networks connecting African cities are too limited and too costly. And the logistics systems that should bind all of these together into a coherent, efficient, competitive whole are fragmented, underdeveloped, and insufficiently integrated.
This is the connectivity deficit. And it costs Africa -- every year -- billions of dollars in lost trade, investment, productivity, and human potential.
But here is the good news--and the reason for both the urgency and the optimism this lecture must inspire: The African Continental Free Trade Area has changed the equation. The AfCFTA -- the largest free trade area in the world by number of participating countries -- has created the policy framework for continental economic integration at a scale and ambition that Africa has never before attempted."
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Speaking further, Oyeyemi noted that "A single continental market of 1.4 billion people, with a combined GDP exceeding $3.4 trillion, is now within reach.
But the AfCFTA is only as good as the infrastructure that supports it. A free trade agreement that cannot be physically fulfilled -- because the roads do not connect, the ports cannot handle the cargo, the railways do not cross the borders, and the aviation networks do not provide affordable access -- is a document, not a reality."
Also speaking, former minister of aviation, Osita Chidoka, expressed optimism that connectivity in Africa is improving, with Air Peace and other airlines making improvements.
He, however, charged the Nigerian government on strong institutions, noting that "even as we build infrastructure," Nigeria must abide by international aviation laws.
He called for a coordinating minister of transportation to direct and ensure alignment of transport development with Nigeria's goals.
